Tractor.



` UNITED Ysfrr" T oFFIoE.

JAMES cinnamon srurtir, or Gitarren. vrneiivia.

TRACTOR.

ieemoiel Specification of Letters Patent. Patented lila-3f 22d, 1917.

Application led May 25, r1916. Serial No. 99,868.

T 0 ZZ whom -z may concern l Be it known that lf. Janes C. STURM, a

citizen yof the United States, residing at.

Grafton. in the county of Taylor and State of lVest Virginia, have invented a new and useful Tractor, of which the following is a.

specification.

The present invention appertains to trae tors, and aims to provide a novei and improved tractor adapted to carry and operate a mowing machine, to pull a plow, harrow7 or the like, and to be. used generally for agricultural and other purposes.

It is the object of the invent-ion to provide a tractor having a novel transmission mechanism between the engine or other prime moveiand the'traetion wheels, whereby the tractor can be readily started and stopped,r

the speed thereof changed, and themachine readily steered to one side or the other bya shoi't turn'.

It is also the object of the invention to provide a tractor having' the features above noted, which is comparatively simple and i1iexpensive in construction, and which is gen- .erally :useful for agricultural and Lsimilar purposes. j

Vith the foregoing and other objects. in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combi nation. and arrangement of parts and inthe details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made Within the scope of what is claimed withoutdeparting from the spiritof the invention.

- The invention is illustrated in the accorny panying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a planview of the improved tractor. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, portions being broken away. y ,y

Fig-.3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.' 2. l

Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional det-ail of the thrust bearing. f

Fig. 5 is a detail view'of one of the clut-c operating handles.

The tractor embodies a suitable framel comprising the longitudinal side beams 2 constructed ofchanneliron or other suitable stock: and having bearings 3 secured thereto adjacent their 4 rear ends. A rear` axle or shaft L1 is journaled in the bea-rings 3 and has l side, and a link or rod 9 connecting saidy arm 9 and a hand lever 10 fulcruined to the frame adjacentfthe rearl end' thereof, the frame having a segment 11 whereby the lever 10 can be held in various positions to hold the wheel y8 at any position to which it is angled. The operators seat 12 is carried bythe rear end of the frame.

.The transmission mechanism for connecting the traction wheels 5 with the engine or Y prime mover embodies relatively largeA vsprocket wheels 13 secured to the traction wheels 5 and connected by endless sprocket chains 14 with relatively small sprocket wheels 15 mounted loosely upon the ends of a transverse jack shaft 16. This jack shaft 16 is carried b v pedestals or standards 17 secured to the beams 2 in front of the traction ywheels. The sprocket wheels 15 have clutch hubs 1 8, andclutchv members 19 are slidable or feathered upon the shaft 16 to move into andv out of engagement with the clutch hubs 18, whereby thetwo traction wheels can be connected with and disconnected from the jack shaft.

A yoke 20 connects the pedestals 17 and has bearings in A which longitudinal l rock shafts 21. are journaled adjacent their forward ends. Said rock shafts 21 have upstaiiding arms 22 adjacent their forward. ends loosely engaged with the clutch members 19, whereby when the arms 22 are os- ,Y

cillated transversely, the clutch members are moved into and 'out of engagement with the clutch hubs 18. The clutch members 19 rotate with the shaft 16 Aandfcan rotate relativeto the arms 22. The shafts 21 are journaled adjacent their rear ends in pedestals or standards 23 carried by the frame ad-' jacent its rear end, and upwardly projecting handles 24 aresecured to the rock shafts 21 adjacent their rear ends near the operators seat 12. Springs 25 connect the handles 24 ics y 'so `and pedestals `23 tol hold said handles in 'either position, with the clutches either in or .out of engagement.

r-The engine or other prime mover 26vis carried by the frame 1 preferably in rear of the jackshaft 16, and its crank shaft has a. .pulley Wheel 27 secured thereto 'which is connected by an endless belt 28 with a pulley 'v theupper end of the shaft 30 for the en gagewheel 29 secured upon a vertical shaft 30. This shaft 30 is journaled within and slidable vertically in a bearing 31 with which the yoke is provided between its ends, and a horizontal friction disk 32 is secured upon ment of a friction wheel 33 feathered, upon -the jack shaft 16. The hub 34 of the friction wheel 33 has a link 35. engaged therewith in any suitable manner so that the wheel 33 can turn without the link 35 turn,- ing therewith, and said link 35 is connected to one arm of a bell crank lever 36 having its elbow fulcrumed upon ay -bracket 37 carried by the yoke 20. `The other arm -of the bell r crank lever 36 is connected by a link or rod 38 with a hand lever 39. carried.. by the frame adjacent the seat 12, a segment 40 being provided for holding the lever 39 at various positions. The lower end o f the shaft seats vWithin a vertical thrust bearing 41 pivotally i pedal. When the foot piece 45 is depressed,

4or otherwise connected with a forwardly vprojecting arm 42 attached to a transverse iock'shaft 43 journaled vto the beams 2. A

rearwardly projecting relatively long arm 44 it attached to said iock shaft 43 and is provided at its rear end with afoot piece 454 'near the seat 12 which can be readily de- 'the shaft 30 is raised to bring the friction disk 32 into engagement with the friction wheel 433, thereby connecting the traction wheels with the-engine, and when the foot piece '45 is released, the shaft 30 and its disk 32 can gravitate to remove the disk from'the Wheel 33, thereby breaking the connection between the traction wheels and engine. `The engine 26, in addition to propelling the tractor, is used for operating a mowing machine-carried by the frame 1.

and can be used for operating various other machines or devices. IVhen the friction disk 32 is raised into engagement with the fricy tion wheel 33, and the clutch members 1f) are moved into engagement with the clutch hubs 1S, the jack shaft 16 in being rotated will actuate the chains '14 to rotate the propelling wheels 5, whereby to propel the tractor. The speed of the tractor is controlled by shifting the friction wheels 33 transversely of the machine or radially rela'- tive to the disk 32, through the medium of the hand lever 39, and by moving said friction wheel 33 to the opposite side of the disk 32 past the center thereof, the direction in which the tractor is propelled will be changed, so that the tractor can be propelled either forwardly or rearwardly. The tractor is guided by means of the wheel 8, and. when it is desired to make a short turn at the end of the field or at the corner thereof, the

traction wheel 5 at that side toward which the turn is to be made, is disconnected from the jack shaft 16, by moving the respective clutch member 19 away from the corresponding clutch hub 18. Thus, the traction wheel 5 at the opposite side will exert a turning movement to the frame of the tractor, which in connection with the proper positioning of the wheel 8, will cause the tractor to make a short turn.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A tractor embodying a frame, a pair of traction wheels supporting it, a transverse jack shaft carried by the frame and having its ends. connected with the traction wheels, a friction wheel slidable upon the jack shaft, means for shifting said friction wheel, a ver tical shaft mounted for rotary and sliding movements below the jack sha ft, a horizontal friction disk carried by the upper end of the vertical shaft to engage said friction wheel, a prime mover carried by the frame and operatively connected with the vertical shaft, and a lever carried by the frame and having a thrust bearingl supporting said vertical shaft, said lever being operable for raising the v erticalshaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES CLINTON STURM.

lVitnesses z R. A. Monnow, B. S. DrmvoRTH. 

